Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I'm having one of those days--tired. Last night I got rid of my in-window air-conditioner, thinking I was bummed I couldn't open my window and it made the room too cold, then I had an anxiety attack about having an open window last night and couldn't sleep. Ah, the insanity never ceases to amaze me. They come at night.

Anyhow, since I'm tired, I was thinking of what might be restful. And one of my favorite things in NY was the Cloisters, and one of my favorite things at the Cloisters is the Unicorn Tapestries. Or, more accurately, the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.

They're on my mind because the most famous one is hanging in the Gryffindor common room in the latest Harry Potter movie. Even though it's in NY in reality. From what I remember, the whole thing is a Christ allegory as well as a symbol of conquered love, so that last makes it apt to have in the dorm. Perhaps it's actually just pretty and seemed to make sense to the set decorator. For me, it took me out of the movie in some way, as I thought "Huh. Did they make another one? Is this a copy? Can they reproduce art there in Hogwart's? That's one expensive piece of thing to have around teenagers" etc. So many questions.

In the end, it's just on my mind because I've seen it in a few movies (or a reproduction), and it always gives me a kick--somewhat like seeing a relative that you know in a movie--you're tooling along, and suddenly you're like "Oh, my god, it's Aunt Marge" and you're somewhere else.

Either way, they're beautiful, and the cloisters itself is so calming. And today, when I'm tired and kind of going down the rabbit hole of what I'm doing on a larger level, sometimes checking back in with art just puts me in a better mood.